


Language of the Flower

by milkfruit



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Dedue is a nervous wreck about giving Khalid an Almyran flower, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkfruit/pseuds/milkfruit
Summary: Dedue plants a flower for Khalid. Khalid wants to return the favor.
Relationships: Dedue Molinaro/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> might write more of this if the reception is good enough! as always, i hope yall like it!

Dedue returns to the greenhouse, noticing that the flowers he had planted a while ago were now in bloom. Dedue smiles. He figured he would give the exotic red and yellow blossom one last round of watering before they were ready to be harvested.

The flower was known as Dragon Thistle. It was known for its spiky stem — hence the ‘thistle’ — and its bright colored bud, usually appearing as red and yellow, but sometimes coming in purple or blue depending on where it's grown. Dedue kept the Dragon Thistle in bright sunlight, and watered it only once a week, as it thrived in the dry, hot climates of Almyra.

The flowers, incidentally, were for Khalid.

Dedue can feel the heat rise to his face just thinking about presenting the fully bloomed Dragon Thistle to Khalid, the object of his affections. But, after discussing these feelings with Dimitri and getting his lord’s blessing to pursue Khalid, he’s already decided that he’d go through with this. He had been pining for Khalid for too long now — it was time to  _ act! _

Ahh, if only it was as easy as it sounded!

A week later, Dedue carefully harvests the flowers, putting them in a pot and adorning the topsoil with a small scrap of paper with a heart on it, for good measure.

_ What should I say?  _ Dedue wonders about the moment he’d hand the flowers over to Khalid. He had all the time in the world to think about it, but he’d admittedly been putting off the embarrassing fantasy… But it wasn’t just fantasy anymore. Dedue’s hands shake as his mind wanders.

That’s when a voice from behind him scares the daylights out of him. “Hey,” the voice calls. “What ya got there?”

Dedue looks over his shoulder to see Khalid, bent over and smiling warmly at Dedue. Khalid didn’t seem to notice the kind of flowers Dedue was holding just yet, so Dedue is quick to hide them before he could spot them.

“Ah—Prince Khalid,” Dedue nearly stutters. Khalid just looks at him with a knowing smile and a glint in his hazel eyes. “Why have you come here?”

“I can’t enjoy the greenhouse on my day off?” Khalid asks sarcastically with a small chuckle. His laughter caught Dedue off guard, making him blush at the melodious sound of Khalid’s voice. “Nah, but seriously, I came to have a look at the flowers growing here. I’m not much of a gardening person, but I can appreciate certain kinds of flowers when I see ‘em.”

Dedue’s brain hardly registers what he’s about to say before he says it. “ _ I want you to have these,” _ He says quickly, all at once, in a terrible rush like the world would end if he didn’t give the Dragon Thistle to Khalid by the end of the day.

He holds out the small pot of Dragon Thistle, the flower standing tall and healthy within its confined space. Khalid blinks, pausing for a long, awkward moment. Dedue held his breath, swallowing thickly as he awaited a proper reaction.

“These… Are for me?”

“Yes.”

Khalid’s silence made Dedue think that Khalid didn’t want them, and Dedue just wants to  _ run away  _ out of humiliation until Khalid speaks up once more. “They’re… beautiful,” One of Khalid’s fingers comes up to caress the softness of the flower’s petals. “But, aren’t these…  _ Almyran??  _ Where did you even get the seeds for these?”

Dedue looks away as Khalid’s softened gaze meets his. “They are not terribly hard to come by,” Dedue says. “I got these seeds from an Almyran merchant.”

Khalid gives Dedue a grateful little smile, taking the pot in his hands and uttering a very soft and genuine,  _ “Thank you.” _

“I… Ahem. Yes. You are most welcome.”

There’s silence again, and Dedue feels his face turning a bright red to match the Dragon Thistle Khalid now had in his possession.

“Well… If there’s anything you need or want so I can pay you back, just ask.”

“There is no need.” Dedue replies, trying desperately to hide his shortness of breath all of a sudden. “I did this because I wanted to.”

“Mm,” Khalid hums, thoughtfully. “And  _ I  _ want to do something for  _ you.  _ I don’t do favors out of obligation, Dedue. I  _ want  _ to make it up to you.”

Dedue is  _ this  _ close to just getting a nosebleed and passing out at this point.

“Y-Yes. Well,” He coughs nervously. “I will let you know.”

“Great,” Khalid cocks his head to the side innocently. “But I’ll warn ya: If you don’t come to  _ me  _ wanting something, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands,”

Before Dedue could ask what he meant by that, Khalid was gone, stalking off with the Dragon Thistle. 

_ I hope I made him happy, at least. _


	2. Chapter 2

The dining hall was nearly empty at this time of day; perfect for Dedue to test out recipes in his mother’s old cookbook. It was one of the only things that survived from his time in Duscur, and so he regularly came to the dining hall to cook up the meals he hadn’t tried yet (which, now, weren’t many).

But it seemed someone was already in the kitchen.

The sound of something sizzling in a pan and dishes crashing to the ground was worrying, to say the least. Dedue figured it was Ashe or Annette, as the two of them liked to cook but were not very good at it, often making a mess of the kitchen when they were done. Dedue thought it best to check up on whomever was in the kitchen making such a ruckus, so he entered with caution.

But, it was  _ not  _ Annette or Ashe in the kitchen as he thought; instead, it was none other than Khalid, who had a recipe book open on the counter while he struggled to sear whatever it was in the pan  _ and  _ prepare the spices and vegetables. 

It was a disaster.

But… Nevertheless, something about the smell of it was… familiar? Nostalgic, even? It was hard to describe, but Dedue felt he  _ knew  _ this recipe, back from when he was a child…

Khalid didn’t seem to notice him standing there, so Dedue makes his presence known. “Khalid.” He says, not  _ trying  _ to sound stern and yet it came out sternly anyways. Khalid jumps a bit, but otherwise doesn’t seem surprised that he’s there.

“Dedue!” Khalid exclaims, trying to downplay what was happening. “Uh… No need for concern, I’ve got it under control! ….I think.”

Dedue sighs, walking over to Khalid, who slams the cookbook shut in attempt to hide what it is he was making.

“You clearly don’t,” Dedue says calmly. He inspects the pan, realizing that the fire was simply too hot and too strong. Was Khalid trying to burn down the whole monastery? Dedue fixes it for Khalid, as the meat was starting to burn. “...What is this?”

“I-It’s—uhh—“ Khalid tries to save face, but it’s no use. He exhales out his nose and opens the book back up. “Well… It’s a Duscur lamb dish,” he finally admits. Dedue blinks a few times.

“...Duscur?”

Khalid was avoiding his gaze… “Y-Yeah, well, you never came to me with a favor like I asked you to, so I just… thought I’d… Um.” Dedue was taken aback. He had never seen Khalid this timid, gingerly playing with the edge of the page and looking down in embarrassment.

Dedue smiles. 

“That is… very kind of you,” He says, and Khalid finally looks up at him, wordlessly, though his expression was warm and tender. “But if you are to continue with this, you need to make some changes.”

Dedue handles the food like a champion, making sure the lamb was cooked  _ just right  _ and that the vegetables were spicy enough. Dedue was a master multitasker, and that reflected in the way he cooked, handling all the food almost at the same time. Khalid was impressed.

“Wow, you seem to know what you’re doing,”

“Of course.”

As a survivor of Duscur, it was  _ important  _ he knew these recipes so that he could pass the knowledge down to future generations and keep the Duscur traditions alive. 

Khalid was just surprised that Dedue had so many talents! Cooking, gardening, fighting… He was a renaissance man in every sense of the phrase. Khalid was even a little jealous.

Once the meal was ready, the two of them stood quietly for a long while as Dedue prepared the final touches and laid out the silverware. Khalid is the first to break the silence.

“I’m sorry you needed to step in,” He apologizes, bowing to Dedue. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

Dedue and Khalid sit down to eat, the savory smell just as appetizing as the way the food looked. “It was nothing.”

Khalid seems entranced, the way he eyes Dedue with admiration and says, “You’re incredible.”

Dedue’s breathing stutters, and he can feel the warmth in his face burning his cheeks, neck, and ears. To be complimented so readily by the Prince, for his efforts to warrant being praised… It was unlike anything Dedue’s ever heard before. 

“No,” he manages to form the word despite how nervous he was. “I only helped. It was your idea, so you deserve my thanks.”

Khalid rests his chin in his hand. “Oh? You’re too humble, y’know,” he says. about to take the first bite.

Dedue watches on in quiet anticipation.

Once the food enters Khalid’s mouth, he practically sighs with sheer pleasure. The taste was… amazing! The combination of spices, the pleasant heat in the flavor, and the texture was perfect — not too pink and not too overcooked. Had Khalid continued the recipe on his own, there was no way it would taste like this. 

“Mmh,” he chews his food slowly, savoring each and every bite. “It’s so  _ good, _ ” Khalid praises, and Dedue takes a bite of it as well.

It was, as Khalid was boasting, extremely tasty. 

“I am glad you enjoy it,” Dedue says, kindness overflowing in his voice. “But, may I ask, why did you choose  _ this  _ dish?”

Khalid pauses. “Isn’t it obvious? You got me Almyran flowers, so I made you a Duscur dish. We’re even now,”

Oh.

‘We’re even,’ he says. Was that really his only motive?

“So you made me this only because you wanted to get even?” Dedue seemed disappointed. Khalid looks mortified.

“No, no!” He protests. “That’s not it. Ugh, why am I so clumsy with words?” His rhetorical question makes Dedue confused, but Khalid continues. “I wanted to thank you properly for going out of your way and tending to that flower for me. It made me happy,” Khalid starts. “I just thought, since you’ve respected my culture, that I should respect yours.”

Dedue felt happiness bloom in his chest, warmth spreading around his heart. He… made Khalid happy? All on his own? With just that small gesture?

“That is…” Dedue trails off, trying not to cry from joy. “Thank you, Khalid.”

Now was the moment of truth.

It was now or never.

Khalid looks surprised when Dedue reaches over to place his hand on the Prince’s. Khalid was soft, warm, nothing like Dedue’s rough, calloused hands. “If it is alright with you,” he begins, voice trembling just a bit. Khalid’s lips part and his eyes soften. “I would like to…  _ continue  _ making you happy.”

Khalid’s easy smile was hard to read.

“Oh? And what does  _ that  _ entail?”

Ugh, Khalid was really gonna make him  _ say it,  _ wasn’t he? He’d rip Dedue’s heart right out of his chest and  _ consume it,  _ letting his liquid love bathe him, if he could.

“I,” Dedue gulps. “I would like to do this for you -- planting you flowers, making you meals, seeing you smile -- every day. I want you to be mine,”

Khalid’s bashful way he looks down and then back up, batting his lashes ever so beautifully, makes Dedue feel  _ raw  _ and  _ exposed  _ with happiness. 

“I would like that,” Khalid says, quietly. “And I’d like to do the same for you, but… You’ll have to teach me,”

“As you wish.” Dedue chuckles, and Khalid squeezes Dedue’s hand, their fingers entwined, as Khalid leans over and gives Dedue a soft, chaste kiss, feather-light and gentle against his lips.

It was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u all so much for reading! i hope u all like this pairing as much as i do!!


End file.
